On 2007-04-09 14:33, Humuhumu wrote: ....do you know if there were any others, and if they were as off-base as this?

No noooo, the others were MUCH MORE tasteful:

...although the wait staff apparently did not always don the obligatory native garb:

The above are both Beachcomber Bars, in Skegness and in lovely Minehead (?), and I believe that since they were modeled after the Mayfair London Beachcomber, the South Seas name was an exception....maybe they thought that totem poles would not fly as beach-combed flotsam, but would pass as some kind of unknown South Seas idols?

On 2007-04-09 14:23, bigbrotiki wrote:There actually is one hilarious example of the intermingling of Totem pole and Tiki, committed by a confused (or lazy) architect in England: Butlin's Holiday Camp in Clacton had this decor to offer in their "South Seas Bar":

Mark Mothersbaugh and Lux Interior both have a Bacon number of 3, while you are even closer to the divine aroma of Baconality with a '2'.

"Tiki", however, returns a Bacon number of infinity, but I suspect that's simply due to the Oracle of Bacon's inability to parse anything outside of the film and television industry. Zeroing in on entertainment personalities closely associated with Polynesian Pop produces better results: Martin Denny, for example, has a Bacon number of 3, and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes comes in at 2.

It's so tantalizingly close. I can almost sense the impending collapse of the holistic quantum tiki probability wavefront into a shining singularity of white-hot reality!

On 2007-04-09 12:42, bigbrotiki wrote:A Zeitgeist is always a result of multiple influences, and so the question of WHY Tiki became Polynesian Pop's figurehead in the 50s/60s is complex. Any other suggestions are welcome.

From a simple mind...a possible simple addition to the pot:

Tiki is fun to say.

There's just something about it. And it can be gagged up all sorts of way. I can just picture my dad at say the Kon-Tiki in the 1960's getting up from his table and announcing, "I gotta go take a tiki-leaky." Nyuck, nyuck.

Heck...we called those Molotov cocktails on sticks "Tiki Torches" even though they were no more than cocktail shakers with a wick stuck in them. Oh sure...they might have at some point been designed to illuminate tikis. But really...they got the name because it's just fun to say, "Let's light the Tiki Torches!"

I think people just loved saying "Tiki." Still do. That's why you got Tiki Bars with no tikis in sight. "Hey! It's a TIKI bar! I'll have a margarita, please."

On 2007-04-09 23:45, PremEx wrote:Just a thought. Don't make fun of me...

But why! Wouldn't dream of it, because...this is another excuse for me to bring out another pet theory:
Your thought corroborates the following: As elaborated on page 21 of the BOT, there might be a good reason why "TIKI" has such BUZZWORD-power:

In the early 90s, Linguist Merrit Ruhlen traced back all human language to the first word, and the first word supposedly ever uttered by man was "TIK" (which meant "finger", "the one", and...well you know):

"Just as archaeologists study fossils and ancient artifacts for clues about mankind's origins, linguistic researchers today are sifting through word roots and grammatical conventions and coming up with some startling revelations about our beginnings. In 'The Origin of Language' noted linguist Merritt Ruhlen takes you on a fascinating journey of discovery back through nearly 100,000 years of human history and prehistory in pursuit of the language from which all modern tongues derive..."

Of course, there are always academic sticklers who want to spoil the fun :

"Ruhlen is an controversial figure in the linguistics community due to his vocal support of the Proto World Hypothesis.... Most mainstream historical linguists reject Ruhlen's assumptions and methodology, holding that it is impossible reconstruct a language spoken at least 30,000 years ago, possibly more than 100,000 years ago."

Weeell...says who?

"..Ruhlen discusses the exciting new work being done in genetics and archaeology that corroborates much of the controversial linguistic evidence. But more than simply describing his and his colleague's theories, Dr. Ruhlen invites you to share in the joys of discovery..."

To me, this is what it is all about: The joy I get out of unusual, new CONCEPTS, be they scientifically sound or not. THAT is what made another kooky theory, Thor Heyerdahl's KON-TIKI, so popular, inspite of it being derided by all the other migration scholars.(and the fact that he turned theory into practice!)

Ruhlen's theory prooves the archetypal power of the term TIKI---the one---first man---the origin of art---
...so let's see: An ape ate his mate's brain, became smart, and said: "TIK!", and carved himself up a Tiki. Yeah, that's it. And that was all caused by that giant monolith in "2001"? Wow! I think that sounds like perfect menu-mythology!

...but, WHY this buzzword hit home especially beginning in the 1950s is still not quite answered with that realization.

On 2007-04-09 14:33, Humuhumu wrote:I'm familiar with Butlin's Beachcomber bars, but not their South Seas bars -- do you know if there were any others, and if they were as off-base as this

From a book that I hope you'll all be reading this summer:

"Beachcomber Bar, Butlinâ€™s Holiday Camp (six locations), UK

Butlin's is a chain of nine resorts in England. During the 1960s and 1970s, at least six of them (Bognor Regis, Minehead, Ayr, Barry Island, Skegness, and Filey) had Beachcomber Bars. All of the Beachcomber Bars are gone now - though the resorts are still there - but extant photos show a surprisingly high TiPSY Factor, rivaling, in fact, many of the best North American bars of the era. It is said that Mr. Butlin got the idea for his Beachcomber Bars from the one in the Mayfair Hotel."

Thanks, JT, but as I stated, I know plenty about the Butlin's Beachcomber bars, I was asking about any other Butlin's South Seas Bars.

If the theme of the bar was "world trader" or "Pacific rim" the totem would make sense, but since the bar was named "South Seas Bar," there just ain't no excusing a Pacific Northwest totem as the dominant, central graphic element. Trust me, I lived there, and no matter how hard you will it (oh, how I tried), it just is not the South Seas. South Bering Sea, maybe.

On 2007-04-08 18:42, MrBaliHai wrote:The problem you'd have to deal with in mixing Tiki and Victorian styles is that the Victorians viewed Polynesia as an inferior culture that they had a manifest destiny to conquer, Christianize, and replace with their own, which is almost the total opposite of mid-century Polynesian pop. One of the most heartbreaking images I have is this 1881 litho of 4 proud, beautiful Tahitian girls covered from head-to-toe in Victorian missionary garb. I think that sums the Victorian attitude towards Polynesia up very neatly.

Bringing the conversation back to Ballyhoo, it shows just how much that puritanical view had changed by the Thirties.

Here's another postcard image from the Victorian era that will make you cringe as well:

It was also probably looked upon quite favorably in the 19th century. Amazing that by the turn of the century, the South Pacific was gaining a different, romantic image in the minds of Westerners. I love your magazine. The cover especially is priceless in its imagery!

On 2007-04-09 14:23, bigbrotiki wrote:Hmmm...yes, that goes along with the generally raised awareness for primitive art, which also included pre-Columbian art. There actually is one hilarious example of the intermingling of Totem pole and Tiki, committed by a confused (or lazy) architect in England: Butlin's Holiday Camp in Clacton had this decor to offer in their "South Seas Bar":

Also interesting is that William Westenhaver at one point taught North Pacific Coast Indians how to chainsaw-carve totem poles. He also decorated a "kachina" doll style bar up North in the 60s.

Could this have anything to do with the fact that James Cook traveled to, explored, collected artifacts, and graphically documented both the Pacific Northwest and the South Seas on the same voyages. The much published records of his trips containing both geographical locations must have been ready reference materials for those looking to recreate or give the illusion of an exotic location. These records of Cook's trips were well published and widely distributed long before Ralf Linton's "Arts of the South Seas" was.